375 Lakeshore Road West

Council has approved the re-zoning for: 18 x 4-storey freehold town houses fronting on
Godfrey's Lane (units each to be 20 ft. wide), in 3 blocks, at a height greater than the former apartment buildings, and with an average size of 2115 square feet.
Demolition is complete and site preparation has begun, along with marketing of “Park Lane.” The Site Plan is still undergoing approvals with issues such as the grading and height of the end unit(s) to be resolved.

PUBLIC MEETING:Monday, June 24, 2013 @ 6:00 p.m. at CITY HALL in the
Council Chamber, Planning & Development Committee (PDC).
Click for
AGENDA
(very large and may take time to load -- Report starts p334).

REVISED CONCEPT PLAN:June 2013. Click image to view full-size
(revised)
Concept Plan, to be presented at PDC on June 24, 2013.
TOPCA is pleased to see the improvements which have been made, per
our Concerns with the original design.

PUBLIC MEETING:Monday, January 7, 2013 @ 7:00 p.m. at CITY HALL in the
Council Chamber, Planning & Development Committee (PDC).
Click for
AGENDA.

There is an application to redevelop the site at
375 Lakeshore Road West
(map)
to include 19 x 4-storey condominium townhouses with frontages along
Godfrey's Lane (photo). Includes the rear portion of 14 Ben Machree
Drive (images shown below).

► ELEVATIONS ARE NOW PUBLIC -- above are the
three (3) TH blocks: West elevations, facing Godfrey's Lane.
Click for enlargement. Click
elevations below to view.

► Click to view the
INFORMATION REPORT prepared by Planning Staff concerning this
application (29p PDF). Excerpt: "Community
concerns include the height and appearance of the townhomes, the
adequacy of visitor parking spaces and tree preservation."

► See further below for background about this development proposal,
including site plan, photo album of the site, and details from past meetings with TOPCA reps.

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss a development proposal
submitted by 375 Lakeshore Development Inc. to develop the site for
19 common element condominium townhouses at the Southeast corner of
Lakeshore Road West and Godfrey’s Lane.

The townhouses are
proposed to be four storeys in height and have frontages onto
Godfrey’s Lane. Garages are proposed to be facing an internal
common element road with access onto Lakeshore Road West.

- aesthetic concerns around the post modern architecture;
'monolithic' wall effect of the development and suggestion that it
is inconsistent with character of the neighbourhood; 'militaristic'
uniformity of planter boxes in front of units.

- lack of parking (5 visitor spaces for 19 units) and its impact on
neighbouring streets. Parking does conform to City requirements.

- need to raise the grade of the southern-most end of the property
for sewage considerations and the impact on surface drainage to
existing homes on Ben Machree Drive.

- property to feature a bioswale to help manage hardscape runoff.

- use of permeable pavement in some places but not on the driveway
itself. When asked why the use of permeable pavement could not be
extended to the driveway, the Developer said there is no reason
other than increased cost, but it hasn't been ruled out.

- height of retaining wall appears to have been reduced using a
railing as one moves south along Godfrey's Lane.

- lots of windows and translucent balcony barriers.

- elevation facing Lakeshore Road appears to have been softened with
landscaping features, but trees will need to be located on 375's
private property due to 3 metre setback requirement for new
developments on Lakeshore Road to allow for future boulevard
enhancements.

REVIEW OF ELEVATIONS
AND SITE PLAN: On
July 11, 2012, representatives of TOPCA and other community
groups met with the proponent to review
revised plans
for the site (further to original outlined below).
TOPCA has received the June 15, 2012 circulation of the
Existing Survey (in sidebar) and
proposed Site Concept Plan (dated
May 2012).

The elevations are not being circulated as the plans are still in
flux. TOPCA's notes:

NOTE: The backyard of the adjoining property to
the south (address
is 14 Ben Machree Drive) has been acquired to add to the site. This
requires a severance at Commmittee of Adjustment. This enables the 3rd bank of
four (4) THs to be swung back onto Godfrey’s Lane, rather than being
sideways. This also means the grading concerns at the back are
reduced, as the sloped bank there presently will remain and become
open amenity space rather than parking lot. Smaller retaining walls
abutting neighbouring properties may be needed. Truck turnaround
works with a hammer head area that can also be used for moving
vans, etc.

1. The THs are freehold with a common element condo arrangement.

2. The large maple on the NW corner of the property will be
taken out.

3. Proponent wants a Godfrey’s Lane address, instead of 375
Lakeshore Road West.
NOTE: Godfrey's Lane is a public roadway and
maintained by the City.

4. Plan is to plant lots of trees and do landscaping.

5. Lakeshore Road ‘frontage’ for the north end TH unit will wrap the
terrace half way around and put in a side door to make it look
like a forward facing unit.

6. The “decorative fence” planned along Lakeshore Road is
essentially a 4’ brick wall and TOPCA has asked for some
softening to avoid the gated community look – it is not intended
as a perimeter wall but rather to block the view of the garages,
and they will try some different treatments, with gaps and
plantings along with lighted posts at night.

8. The size and features of the units (some with elevators) will
push the price to $1M in some cases, min of $700k but most
800-900k --- the demographic won’t be 30-50 as stated last time
but rather 50-70.

9. No actual basements – landing is 2 steps down – functionally
4 storeys but City regards as 3 (a technicality) – they will
certainly present to the observer as 4 storeys.

10. We are concerned about the height, confirmed to be taller
than the apt buildings there now. Ceiling heights of 9’; ground
floor is 10’. 4 Floors of living space.

11. We expressed concern about the lack of articulation of the 3
banks of THs – the effect is a very high and long wall along a
natural laneway – how can this be mitigated? We asked for
a less subtle approach to articulation; the banks are currently
staggered slightly.

12. On-site “playground” or “parkland” will be dictated by the
City – the park is across the road, but we questioned this
contextual approach to planning the amenities on the site. There
is now room (with land acquisition) for both if required.

13. We questioned the imposing brick wall across the front of
the units (i.e. along Godfrey's Lane) – towards the south end it is a retaining wall to a
max of 6’. Planter boxes in front – will follow-up.

14. The sidewalk is private and there was considerable
conversation about it – could the public walk there? Lack
of connection to the laneway (have to jump a slight ditch to get
there). Has a
suburbanization effect which may be mitigated by using materials
to make clear it is not a municipal sidewalk. 'Bridges'
may be put in to connect to the Laneway.

15. Only 5 visitor parking spots. There will be no lay-by
parking on Lakeshore Road, apparently. More parking comes through reduction
of green space -- it is a balance. Concern about street
parking on Ben Machree instead. Confirmed there will be no
parking on Godfrey’s Lane.

16. Proponent wants to be at Council in Fall for approval.
Will need to be a public meeting first. Proponent promised to
hold another community meeting after they get any approvals to
discuss design elements, e.g. how to go about creating the
Lakeshore Road “frontage”.

On February 16, 2012, representatives of TOPCA and
other local residents' associations met with Tong Hahn (President,
Canahahns Company) and Gregory Priamo, a planning consultant with
Zelinka Priamo Ltd. to learn about the proposal. A builder has
not been confirmed. This company has not done infill projects
before. They attended the City's DARC Committee (Development
Application Review Committee) in November 2011 and
have re-worked plans based on feedback. The site has recently
been fenced off. The buildings on-site have been vacated.
No site plans or images were released at this time.

The Project is for 18 luxury freehold town houses in place of the two
4-storey apartments with 30 total units. The town houses will
be approximately 2100 sf, 20' wide with parking for 2 cars in the
rear garage for each unit; units are fronting onto Godfrey's Lane.
City Transportation staff is said to be recommending that access to parking be off
Godfrey's Lane, but the developer feels the laneway should be kept as
a walking / biking path with minimal traffic (which will be more
attractive to purchasers) versus becoming a main
roadway. Access is proposed to be off Lakeshore Road using the
present driveway, with a paved area in the back to allow for visitor
parking and truck-turnaround for garbage pick-up, etc. There
are presently 30 parking spaces on the site.

The proposed 4th storey of the town houses will be set back (for a
room with a large terrace at the front). This will need to go
to the Committee of Adjustment if approvals can't be attained in a
timely manner through an Official Plan Amendment. Presently,
according to the Zoning, 2-3 storey THs are permitted. A bid
may be made for the 4-storey THs to be technically viewed as 3
storeys.

With approval, the target target timeframe is for summer/fall 2012
sales with ground breaking shortly thereafter dependant on sales
results. Most of the construction could be done through the
Winter 2012/2013 period to avoid disrupting the Summer 2013 season
when most people would be accessing Godfrey's Lane and the adjacent
Rhododendron Gardens.

Price range is projected to be $700-800k. Demographic is
"30-50" but would possibly attract empty-nesters who live in the
area - an elevator option is available in each TH unit. The
look is urban, with 15 units along Godfrey's Lane and 3 units angled
in towards the backyards of residences on Ben Machree Road.

The Developer has confirmed that once the application is formally
submitted, a public meeting will be held.